Molding machine



Nov. 6, 1928.

. w. o. VIVARTTAS MOLDING MACHINE Filed March 24, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet lNov. 6, 1928. 1,690,145 w. O. VIVARTTAS MOLDING MACHINE Filed March 24,1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l HI 0. Uzivarl'ilja/q Nov. 6, 1928. 1,690,145

w. o. VIVARTTAS MOLDING MACHINE Filed March 24, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet :5

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Patented Nov; 6,- 1928.

N D, A E omes} o. vwm'rms, or n'ocxronn, ILLINOIS, EAS-SIGNOR TOMATTISQN MACHINE wonxgor nocxron'n, IL INoIsA coRPoRAric-N or ILLINOIS.

' MOLDING MACHINE.

I t Application filed-March 24, 1924.,'Scria1Nb.701',27Z.

and Jr-arranged to impart an intermittent movement tosthe rolls asdistinguished from a smooth continuous motion, with the result that thework which is fed by the rolls into 15. engagement with the cutter-headis not fed a smooth 1 and constant speed. The object flizthisinvqnt'ijonis toprovide a chain drive for thefeed fol-ls of a moldingmachine is capahle of overcoming the; diificulty In the accompanyingdrawingswherein I ,haue 'shownwmy, invention as applied to a,

molding machine of preferred construction, gEigure 1 is a, i transversevert cal sectional 1 Mew through one I end of i the machine takenimpproxim telyinthe plane df1ine;11 of' F;ig." 2 is a-lohgitudihalvertical sectional viewaitaken-a proximately in-theplane of i Fig, ,3 1:a :detaeheduviewillustrating the "drive chainrfor theupper set ofyfeedrolls; :mFiigJi is a;similar yiewyishowing the chain driwe forthe lowersctofateedrollsp;

Ilig.l; 5 is a fragmentary end viewpnfanmnlarged sealeofparts shown inFig. 1 *fldflptedgm efiectfgthe smooth, operationyof the upper feedrolls. 7 I I I \Fig. fi .iaia l horizontal. section :takenyin theiplanei-offi line fi ti ofFig. r5. v 1 I ,Thelimolding machine :which I.have se- Lleeted-for purposes: of illustration comprises itwo sots'ofvfeed Urfolls including an upper pair of .1 rolls {7, and 8v and. alower set ofaolls :9 audit); The rolls? and 9 may; fOI' COn- Weniencabbetermedi-theaforward rolls ofqthe respectiveisetsandwthe a'olls 8 and 10the rear rolls. vThe several rolls are suitably wjoul'naldwin themachine and v the rolls of r :each, set. are geared together-foroperation in '55 a tlrive' shaft=14haviuganextended endporshaft i l andhaving an extended end portrolls Work of varying thicknesses. lllllJOfsuch vertical adwstmentwithout necessitating an alteratlonwlnthcgchain,Ipro- :to produce a smooth and-continuous opera tion- 'of'the feedrolls,- This means com- .18? of thesha-ft; 1.8,said end portion beingprovided for this purpose with a bore*2'7 adapted to receive :apiiVOtpin 28 [upon which tion 14 for-driving purposes: The lower rolls aresimilarly connected by; spur gears i5 and itirigid Withthe respectiverolls and an intermediate driving pinion 17 mounted on a shaft 18disposed directly below the tion 18 also for driving purposes. 7 l Theshafts 14 a11d18are arranged to be driven from a drive shaft 19connected with i a suitable sourceof power and supported in the machineframe parallel to but spaced a substantial distance below the shaft- 18.

Rigid withrsaid shaft is avzpair of sprocket gearsQO and 21. Over thesegears run; cha1ns 22 and "23 -WhlCl1' also pass over 79 sprocket gears24 and 25 upon the end 1001' tionsM andi8 of the-shafts 14 and'18respectively.

-;'llh esjhaft 15i and rollers ;7 and -8 are mounted forverticaladjustmentrasis commojuin machinesofl this jtype so as to accommodatebetween the {upper and lower Topeii vide an automatic take-up meanswhich con} statutes at the same tlme ameans tor absorbing,thezshocksincidentto the passage of the r chain over the'sprocketgears, thustending prises '(Fig; 5) a rocker (arm 26 pivoted be- I tween-its ends-on-.the projecting end portion the arm is adapted to turn. One end :of

said arm has mounted thereon an idler; sprocket gear 29 and theoppositeend of-zthe armrcarrles' asumlar idler-130." A segment Ill!)tending portions or lugsc38u yfvhereby the plate may be secured -to thehousing '133 as loymeans of bolts At theuppenendof F the bracket isformed a lug 40 having a screwihreaded aperture therein in which isthreaded the upper end of a guide stud 41 for a coiled compressionspring; 42. Said stud has an octagonal head 43 rigid therewith betweenwhich and the upper end of the rack bar bears the spring 42. The amountof pressure exerted by the spring 42' may thus be varied at will byadjusting the head 43. The stud il is locked in adjusted position by anut 43 engaging the under side of the lug: ail). As shown in Figs. 1 and(3. a rack plate ll may be secured by the bolts 36, on the forward faceof the rack bar.

it will be seen that as the upper set of rolls 7 and 8 are. movedvertically the rack bar 32 moving with the upper rolls imparts aswinging nmvement to the rocker arm 26 -;o as to cause it to compensatefor any var: .'on in the working length of the chain due to changes inthe relative positions of the upper and lower rolls. Moreover, thet-i-lisiml of the spring il is adjusted so as to serve as an equalizercapable of absorbing ny sudden shocks or unequal strains such s may bedue to the increasing effectiveness of the radius of pull as thesuccessive teeth become released from the chain. The result that insteadof an intermittent motion being imparted to the rolls by the chaindrive, a smooth and continuous motion is imparted thereto. I may statethat the effectiveness of the spring and associated parts as anequalizing means is readily apparent. upon an observation of the drivingmeans in operation. from the fact that the rocker arm 26 undergoes arapid vibratory oscillation constantly.

The chain drive for the lower set of rolls 9 and 10 is also providedwith a shock absorbing means comprishng in this instance a pivotedsupport or lever 45 which carries an idler gear 46 over which the chain23 passes. The axis of the sprocket gear 21- mounted on the drive shaft19 always bears a fixed relation to the axis of the gear 25 on thedriven shaft 18 so that in this instance the shock absorbing means islocated at the lower end of the chain loop. As herein shown, the lever4-5 carrying the gear 46 is pivoted at one end as at 47 upon a fixedaxis and its opposite end is held downward by means of a coiled spring48 acting between adjusting nuts 49 at one end of a guide rod 50 and thefree end of the lever. The rod 50 is suitably supported in a stationarypart 51 on the machine frame. It will be evidentthat the tension on thespring 48 may also be readily adjusted so as to serve as an equalizer inthe manner above set forth in connection with the chain thus insuringthe smooth operation of the lower feed rolls also.

As shown in Fig. 2-, the. shaft extension 14 has abearing at its freeend in a remo able cover plate 52 fol-the housing 33. The plate 2 isalso apertured for convenient access to the interior of the housing, theaperture being closed by a second plate 53.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a molding machine, the combination of a feed roll, a supporttherefor, a drive shaft, said support being mounted for up and downmovement relative to said shaft, means including a chain and sprocketmechanism for driving said roll, a rocker arm mounted to turn on astationary axis and disposed between said roll and the drive shaft, apair of idlers mounted on said arm and adapted to engage with saidchain, and spring means tending, to hold said idlers in engagement withthe chain to maintain a predetermined tension thereon, said spring meansbeing interposed between the rocker arm. on the one hand and the movablesupport for the feed roll on the other hand.

2. In av molding machine, the combination of a. feed roll, a driveshaft, said roll and shaft being mounted for relative m0vement towardand from each other, a chain and sprocket connection between said shaftand said roll, a rocker arm pivoted between its ends and having a. pairof idlers engagin; opposite sides of said chain, and means including aspring; for causing said idlers to maintain the chain under apredetermined tension during a pivotal movement of said rocker arm.

3. In a molding machine, the combination of a feed roll, a drive shaft,said feed roll being adjustable relative to said drive shaft, means fordriving the feed roll including a chain, and means for maintaining thechain under a predetermined tension ineluding a rocker arm, a pair ofidler gears on said arm and arranged to engage with the chain onopposite sides thereof, a segment rigid with said arm, a rack bar mesing with said segment, and spring means carried by the feed roll supportengaging with said rack bar to actuate the rocker arm and cause theidler gears to tension the chain.

4. A molding machine comprising a pair of upper feed rolls and a pair oflower feed rolls mounted for relative adjustment, a drive shaftinterposed between each of said pairs of rolls, a power driven shaftdisposed below the lower feed rolls, each of said drive shafts having asprocket gear thereon, a pair of sprocket pinions on the power drivenshaft, chains connecting each of said pinions with the gears on therespective drive shafts, means interposed between the power driven shaftand the upper drive shaft for maintaining a predetermined degree oftension on the chain for the upper shaft while permitting of theadjustment of the upper rolls relative to the lower rolls, and meansincluding an idler located below said power till degree of tension.

5. In a molding machine, the combination a of upper and lower feedrolls, a drive shaft mounted to turn on a fixed axis, chaindriving meansfor the upper and-lower rolls each arran ed to be driven from said driveshaft, an means including adjustable resilient devices for maintaining apredetermined and constant tension upon the chains of each of saiddriving means, the tension- 1n means for one of the driving means beingadapted to permit relative movement between the corresponding feed rollsand said driveshaft. a V

6. In a molding machine, the combination a of upper and lower rollsmounted for re1ative adjustment toward and i from each other, a driveshaft, and chain-driving means from said shaft to said rollshavingspring tensioning means associated therewith adapted to permit of suchrelative movement between the upper and lower rolls and at the same timemaintain the driving means under a constant predetermined tens on, saidsprlng tensioning means 1nclud ing a tension maintalning connection automatically operable upon relative movement of the rolls. j r

7. In a machine, the combination of a driven shaft, a drive shaft,supports for said shafts arranged to permit relative movement of onetoward and from the other, drive means including a flexible connectionbetween said shafts, a rocker arm pivoted to one of said supports andhaving a pair of idlers engaging said flexible connection, and aconnection between said rocker arm and the other support including anadjustable spring, tensioning device, said connection being arranged soas automatically to ac- V tuate said rocker arm upon relative movementbetween said supports and without changing the tension of said springtensioningdevice.

affixed my signature.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto

